Ellis' Little Pony
by Akihito Kage
Summary: Ellis loves horses, but a long time ago it was a pony that had his heart.


Written when I was bored during summer last year. Everyone knows Ellis loves horses, but just how much?

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**Ellis' Little Pony**

When Ellis was a child, around seven or eight, he had a My Little Pony. His Mama had no idea where he'd gotten it from, because she sure as hell didn't buy it for him. She thought it must've been a gift from one of the girls in his class, and Ellis being the sweetheart he was of course couldn't say no, so had accepted it. At least that's what she first assumed. The boy grew too attached to it too quickly for it to be a simple gesture of thanks.

The pony itself wasn't too bad. His Mama could only thank her lucky stars that it wasn't bright pink. Instead it was a lovely purple colour with long, flowing violet and blue hair. It was adorned with a small rainy cloud painted on its flanks, and Ellis often assured her 'It ain't 'cause he's sad, ma! He just likes the rain!'. Yes, Ellis also assured him it was a boy pony 'because girls is pink!'. The woman never had the heart to take the girlish toy off of him, since he seemed to love it so much. She just managed to limit him to playing with it at home, because even though she didn't mind him having it, god forbid she let Ellis be teased and bullied by kids at school.

Everyday after school, Ellis would come racing home and head straight up to his room, directly to his toy box to take out his My Little Pony and Action Man. He'd make up games where Action Man was riding through the air on the pony, or going off to some epic battle with the pony as his steed. His Mama never asked what the pony's name was, and she suspected it didn't have one, as she had never heard her son speak it out loud. She knew his Action Man was called Bob, his stuffed shark on his bed was Marty, the rubber ducky he had in bath was Sir Squeakers, and the teddy that was now forever lost behind the couch was Bear-Bear. But she didn't know the name of the My Little Pony.

As the years went, his Mama began to see less and less of the purple pony, for which she was glad. It wasn't right for growing boys to be so obsessed with a girl's toy. Whenever she cleaned his room, however, she noticed it was still faithfully placed on his desk, gathering dust from not being played with but still clearly very loved. It stood next to a photo of him and his two friends, Keith and Dave, on a log-flume ride at Whispering Oaks, in a blue foam frame. Despite herself, she'd smile at it, and once or twice she'd caught herself petting the little toy before bustling out of the room with armfuls of laundry.

More years flew by, and at eighteen Ellis was moving out. She was helping him pack up his boxes, making sure to leave some significant things behind so 'you'd have a reason to visit yer old Ma ever' now and then'. Once, feeling overcome with emotion about her baby boy leaving the nest, she just stood in the doorway to his room, watching the young man pack up the last few boxes. She looked around at the now empty walls, once filled with posters of cartoons, which had changed to racing cars and other mechanical things over time. The shelves were also mostly bare, save for a few photos and one or two toy cars. She looked over to the desk, noticing the lack of the My Little Pony which had stood there for the past ten years. Checking over the open boxes by her son's feet, she noticed it wasn't there. She was about to ask about it before Ellis turned and there it was, sticking out of the pocket of his jacket. She closed her open mouth and smiled.

They hugged goodbye, both a little tearful, while Dave and Keith loaded the last few boxes into the run-down truck that belonged to someone's father. She waved farewell to her son, who promised to visit every Sunday like a good boy. As the car drove off, she stood on the end of the driveway, just staring into the distance, not really believing her boy had gone off on his own into the big wide world.

She first visited Ellis' new place two months later, when Ellis had told her he had too much of a busy weekend to have time to come and see her like every Sunday, so why didn't she come to him instead? She agreed, of course, and was quite shocked to find the flat above the auto-shop to be pretty tidy. Things were put away mostly neatly, the carpet could've used a clean but wasn't littered with clothes like it had been when he was a kid, and there were a few dishes scattered around the kitchen but those could be sorted out within minutes. She smiled proudly to herself. She'd taught her son well.

She happily cleaned up a little for him while he had to work downstairs. Keith and Dave apparently lived together just a block away, and it had been Rock, Paper, Scissors as to who got the apartment over the shop, so she was pretty much alone. For the first time in her life, she felt rather strange walking into her son's room, almost like she was intruding on a part of his life that should be kept to him and him alone. But with the sight of the ever-faithful faded purple pony on the tiny bedside table, all those feelings left and she could vacuum the room in peace.

With every visit she made, she'd always take a peek into his room, and smiled every single time when she saw the My Little Pony still standing there. The mane and tail were a little tangled now, and a couple of chunks of paint from the designs were missing, and it looked like some animal had tried to make off with it at some point, but it was still very dearly loved. She'd heard Ellis mention it on a number of occasions, mainly to point out Keith and Dave teased him for having a toy by his bed, and a girl's toy at that. She smiled the way a mother smiles when her children say something endearing but silly, and told him not to worry about it. Her fears and annoyances of the pony from his youth had long vanished when she realised it hadn't made any effect at all on the person he'd turned out to be.

It would be five years later, after going through Hell and back, that Ellis stood in front of a toy store window, gazing at a set of My Little Ponies, and remembering that purple pony with the violet and blue mane and the rainy cloud pattern. It was long gone now, vanished into the abyss of a zombie apocalypse and subsequent cleansing of the country. He was now in England, far far away from home, with a man he'd never expected to end up with in his entire life.

"Ellis, I know you 'lurve horses', but seriously? A girl's toy?" Nick chided next to him after noticing the Southerner had stopped in his tracks.

"Ah had one, when I was li'l." Ellis explained, not looking away from the window. His eyes were stuck on the cream-white pony near the back, with a mane of dark brown and blue and a diamond and pearl pattern.

"You're kidding? Why am I not surprised?" Nick backtracked over the the man, looking at the display the other was glued to. "Aren't you a little old for that now?"

"Ah miss it." Ellis nearly pouted. "Some girl gave it tah me in school. Dunno 'er name now, but Ah liked that pony. Ah called it Blue, even though it was purple."

Nick shook his head in disbelief. Trust the kid to get attached to a kids' toy. "Stay here, I'll be right back." The suited man told him, leaving Ellis staring wide-eyed at him while he stepped into the toy store.

He was only alone for around five minutes when the gambler came back out again with a bag in his hands. He handed it to Ellis silently before continuing to walk down the road, letting Ellis jog to catch up to him while looking into the bag.

Inside it was the cream pony with the brown and blue hair.

"Awh, thanks man!" Ellis cheered, throwing his arms around Nick, much to the older man's annoyance. "This is the best gift anyone has ever got me!" And he kissed him sloppily on the cheek, leaving Nick to wipe it off in disgust.

"Jesus Christ, Ellis. Keep your germs to yourself." He scowled, but inside he was quite happy. Happy that he'd made Ellis smile.

That night, the pony stood faithfully on their bedside table, next to the photo of them, Coach and Rochelle the week after they'd gotten out of Safe Camp.

Ellis decided to call it Nick, but like last time, never spoke its name.

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R+R and Ellis will let you pet his pony


End file.
